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Huts / campsites
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DOC Land
Altitude: 347m to 933m. Gain: 679m. Loss: 154m . Gradient: 6 deg (Moderate)
Skills: - Prolonged rivers (4/6) Winter - Snow/ice underfoot (2/7)
The signpost to the campsite and tracks has disappeared since my last visit, but the 4WD track on the north bank of Kelly Creek still leads to the gravel-pit / campground. A tidy cut track heads upstream through mature forest for 300m to the first sidecreek where a signpost marks the junction with the Carroll Hut track. From here on it's riverbed travel for those heading to Hunts Creek. The river is low (ankle deep) in normal flows but can be impassable after heavy rain.
After a kilometer or so up gravel riverbeds, a DOC triangle on the north bank marks the starts of the bypass track shown on maps. Alternatively, 200m later a piece of flagging tape on the northern bank marks the start of an older NZFS track: a brief steep climb up a loose gravel gut, sidling over a small spur to be joined by the new flash DOC track as it descends from somewhere far above. The river is gorges and bouldery an not an option so use one of the the bypass tracks.
Back on the valley floor, above the gorge, the nature of the river has changed. The wide, open river flats are narrower; rounded river rocks replace easy gravel; you can see – feel- the valley climb. The rocky riverbed ends 2km-or-so before the saddle and a cut, marked track starts on the northern bank - easy to miss. Low bush alternates with clearings of tall tussock. Track-cutters have clearly been instructed to cut only the bush sections and tussock in the clearings reach well over our heads.
The gentle saddle with Hunts Creek is barely perceptible, but the roar of the river dropping to the Taipo far below lets you know you've passed it. The valleyside steepens, the track sidling – climbing and descending – but mainly climbing. Glimpses through the trees reveal broad bushy flats above the Hunts Creek gorge, a triangular tussock clearing on terraces on the southern bank - the site of Hunts Creek Hut. You emerge, finally, onto the base of a large scree face of lichen-clad rock and stop climbing. The track has formed a well-worn platform in the stable scree, descending gently towards the large clearing in the valley-head. Crossing a brief tongue of bush you emerge into another clearing of tall tussock, to the welcome sight of Hunts Creek Hut.